Christina Applegate Regrets 'Lying' About Liking Breasts After Mastectomy
Christina Applegate has been known to make candid comments about her health struggles over the years, but that wasn’t always the case.
“In 2008, when I had breast cancer at 36 years old, I went out and I was the good girl talking about I love my new boobs that are all scarred and f—ked up. What was I thinking?” Applegate, 52, revealed on the Monday, March 25, episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast.
Applegate announced that she was cancer-free after undergoing a double mastectomy in an August 2008 interview on Good Morning America. “My first interview was with Robin Roberts when I had cancer and I’m sitting there lying my ass off about how I felt,” the actress explained on the podcast. “I got up and I literally fell into the wall. … I fell into the wall and sobbed because it was a lie. Everything I was saying was a freaking lie. It was me trying to convince myself of something and I think that did no service to anyone. … I didn’t like my boobies!”
The actress was extremely positive in her GMA sit-down as she discussed her double mastectomy and subsequent breast reconstruction. “I’m going to have the best boobs in the nursing home,” she quipped at the time.
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Almost 16 years later, Applegate said she still doesn’t like the way her breasts look post-cancer. “It’s horrible,” she stated on Shepard’s podcast. “I don’t have nipples. That’s not something I talk about. I don’t have nipples. It’s weird. I can wear a tank top and no headlights.”
In addition to her double mastectomy, Applegate took another preventative measure by having her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in 2017. “My cousin passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008. I could prevent that,” she told Today.com that October. “That’s how I’ve taken control of everything.”
While Applegate has not been re-diagnosed with cancer, she has been battling multiple sclerosis since 2021. “I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition,” she shared with fans via X in August 2021. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a—hole blocks it.”
On Monday’s podcast, Applegate explained how humor has helped her cope with her health ups and downs. “I make these jokes because if I don’t, I’ll suffocate. I’ll be done,” she shared. “I’m not ready for the healing yet. And I’m being very honest. I will get there. But when someone says have you accepted this as your new normal? No, f—k you, absolutely not.”
She poked fun at herself during a rare public appearance at the 2023 Emmys in January. Upon walking out on stage with host Anthony Anderson to present Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, she was greeted with a standing ovation from attendees. “You’re totally shaming me, with [a] disability, by standing up. It’s fine,” she quipped.
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Her ex-husband, Johnathon Schaech, praised her strength following her Emmys appearance, writing via X, “She danced opening night on broadway on a broken foot! Beat cancer! She’s the toughest human being I’ve ever met! F—k MS! So proud of her! Go Christina!”
Applegate revealed that she “blacked out” on the Emmys stage in another GMA interview with Roberts, who is a fellow breast cancer survivor, earlier this month. “People said, ‘Oh, you were so funny,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what I said.’ And I felt really beloved, and it was a really beautiful thing,” she recalled.
